From the Midwest to Hollywood

October 1, I began sending out manila envelopes with my headshot, resume and cover letter. A couple of weeks later I heard back from prospective commercial agents, and around November 1 I came to an agreement with the Stevens Group Talent Agency, who will now represent me commercially. Should I prove successful in booking commercials, they will then consider representing me theatrically. A theatrical agent helps one get auditions for movies and television programs.

Yesterday I had another meeting with Steve Stevens, Sr. (he and his son, Steve Jr.,  run the agency).  He had me put several new pictures on LA Casting, the Web-site most commonly used for commercial casting in Los Angeles. Steve said one or two of the pictures I brought in would not work, so I will need to get those together soon.

 As I left the meeting, I thought I should feel happier. After all, I  accomplished a major goal and achieved a progressive step in my acting career. But after I posted the pictures and began some computer work at home, my mood did not improve.

Later on, I had coffee with my friend Ian, who is visiting from Wisconsin. It was nice to talk to Ian, but what perked me up was the Christmas music playing in the background.

I know many people disapprove of Christmas music as early as November, but being a person who does not, it helped me remember something important: there is more in life than an acting career. Actors, be they as famous as could be, are just like everybody else. They like and don’t like certain kinds of music and certain kinds of food. They like certain activities and don’t like others.

Your job, even if it is wonderful, is not enough: you have to enjoy other things in life. If I am fortunate enough to achieve success in acting, it will be the same for me, and it is the same now. So my new decision, along with doing what I must do to succeed at acting, is to enjoy what I enjoy, whether it is related to acting or not. Among such things are catchy Christmas music, thought-provoking and unscary movies at the theater and daydreaming about the British Isles.